


Mysteries Of MiddleBrook: The Beginning

by StoryW90



Series: Mysteries Of MiddleBrook [1]
Category: Friends, Mystery - Fandom, best friend - Fandom, brother - Fandom, little - Fandom, little brother - Fandom, mysteries - Fandom, town - Fandom
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-21
Updated: 2019-09-21
Packaged: 2020-10-25 15:23:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20726414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StoryW90/pseuds/StoryW90
Summary: When 13 year old Holly McCallister moves to the small, suburban town of MiddleBrook, Arizona, she's a bit skeptical. Rated online as one of the creepiest places in the U.S, Holly can't wrap her head around why her parents would want to move there...neither can her brothers, 16 year old Jared, and 10 year old Luke. As Holly tries to adapt to her new home, she meets a girl who lives next door to her named Brenna Carver. Brenna shares some of Holly's skepticism, but their brothers just think that they're crazy. Follow Holly as she begins to learn why MiddleBrook is rated the way that it is.





	Mysteries Of MiddleBrook: The Beginning

It was a chilly, quiet day in Middle Brook, Arizona. Children were waiting at the bus stop, and parents were on their way to work, listening to the radio and giving their strong opinions on subjects that they knew little to nothing about. Of course, it’s not like the people on the radio could hear the parent’s views on things THROUGH the radio. Back at the bus stop, the children were placing bets on when the bus would arrive. One little, 5th grade boy bet 5 dollars that the bus wouldn’t arrive for another 10 minutes. A little 3rd grade girl bet 2 dollars that the bus would get there within the next 5 minutes, and an older boy, who looked to be in about 9th grade bet 15 dollars that the bus wouldn’t arrive until the clock was to strike 7:35. The 5th grade boy said,  
“7:35 is pretty late. The bus is never this late.”  
The 9th grade boy said,  
“Eric, we have a substitute driver today, which means that they don’t know the route that well, and our stop is the 3rd to last stop in the morning.”  
The little boy, whose name was apparently Eric said,  
¨How do you know we have a substitute?¨  
The 9th grade boy sighed, remembering the bus driver telling them yesterday. While they continued waiting on the bus, an 8th grade girl ran up to the bus stop and said,  
“Yes! I won! Oh and we didn’t miss the bus either it looks like, so hey that’s a bonus.”  
A girl came running behind her, then bent down and put her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath.  
“Brenna! What the heck! I said to hold on, my shoe was untied.”  
Brenna said,  
“Oh come on, it was just a silly ole relay race, chill out would ya Holly?!”  
Holly rolled her eyes, continuing to breathe heavily and fast. A few minutes passed, then Holly straightened herself up, and said,  
“Man, you’re fast!”  
Brenna laughed, then said,  
“Thanks, where is the dang bus!?”  
Then, as if on command, the bus pulled up to the bus stop. As the kids piled onto the bus, the 9th grade boy said,  
“See, Eric? I told you so.”  
Eric said,  
“Shut up Dakota!”  
Dakota laughed, then as he made his way on the bus, he collected money from all of the kids that placed a bet. He then made his way to the back of the bus where the high schoolers were supposed to sit, counting the money he had just collected. One would probably think that he should give the money back to the kids, and be a good older influence, but he thought he was just doing right. In his eyes, the kids were going to have to learn about bets, like when to place them, with whom, and things like that. It was almost as if gambling was a science that Dakota knew all too much about. Brenna then made her way up the steps into the bus, Holly following closely behind. They then found a seat in the front of the middle school section. Brenna went in the seat first and got the window, but Holly didn’t care, she just wanted to get to school and get the day over with. It was her first day of school in a new state, new town, and around new, but admittedly interesting, people. To her, the townsfolk were nice, but their actions were creepy, and although she’d seen many freaky folk in her lifetime, to her no one person came any stranger than Old Man Mullins. With one of his eyes covered with an eye patch, his prosthetic knee, the scowl he always wore on his face indicating that he undoubtedly hated his life with every fiber of his being, from the way he talked to himself when he was plucking weeds in his garden, and the way he just stared at passersby who met up with their significant others on the sidewalk or gave him a friendly wave, he was easily the most hated and strangest person in all of Middle Brook, and that was saying a lot. The thing that made him the most “interesting” was the stories he told. He told of universes inside MiddleBrook, places that were the complete opposite of the town. Places that looked so majestic, and had items that were equally as majestic and so beyond belief. People thought he was crazy, and made up theories saying that he was from Mars, or that he was just simply mentally insane. Either way, Old Man Mullins couldn’t get any stranger. Twenty-five minutes later, the bus pulled into the middle school, opening its doors to let the kids out. Holly got out first, then waited on the sidewalk for Brenna. Once Brenna got off, she showed Holly to the main office. Holly got her schedule and locker assignment, then went to find her first class. The whole day, Holly felt like an outcast. People would just walk by her and stare, not even attempting to say hello, or to see if she needed any help finding her classes. She kept her head down, and mouth closed, and went from class to class, with only Brenna to talk to. That afternoon, Holly got on the bus first and sat down, then waited for Brenna. When Brenna got on-even though she had only known Holly for a short time-she could immediately tell that Holly was thinking long and hard about something as she stared out the window. She walked up and sat down, then turned towards Holly and began rubbing her shoulder,  
“Are you alright?”  
Holly said,  
“Fine.”  
Brenna said,  
“Come on Holly, I can tell that you’re thinking about something. I may have not known you for a long time, but it’s pretty obvious something is on your mind.”  
Holly said,  
“It’s just that, nobody talked to me today. They all stared at me. Some gave me disgusted looks. One girl even called me country bumpkin because of my country accent. I can’t help how I talk!”  
Brenna said,  
“Hey, there’s nothing wrong with being from Louisiana. Don’t let them make you think there this. Be you, and don’t listen to them. They’re just jealous.”  
Holly squinted her eyes and said,  
“Of what? the fact that I’ve been to Mardi Gras a lot?”  
Brenna sighed, then Holly continued,  
“No, it’s my unlimited supply of Gumbo isn’t it?”  
Brenna laughed a little, then said,  
“No, they’re jealous because you’re a nice person and you barely try. I’m good at reading people, and you my friend, are as good as they come.”  
Holly smiled, and said,  
“Thanks for being nice to me, and becoming my friend. They’re hard to come by you know.”  
Brenna smiled, and nodded, agreeing with her. As the bus went on the normal drop off route, Holly spotted Old Man Mullins sitting on his front porch, having a conversation with an empty, wooden chair. He seemed to be deep in conversation. She tapped Brenna’s shoulder and said,  
“Bren look.”  
Brenna turned and stared out the window with Holly. Holly said,  
“Who’s he talking to?”  
Brenna said,  
“That there is a sixty-four thousand dollar question. Seems to be either his invisible friend, or a 9 centimeter tall person.”  
Holly laughed. At that moment the bus started moving again, and speeding down the road. Brenna leaned back on her side of the seat and said,  
“Hey, I’ve got an idea. Why don’t we go over to his house one day and investigate? He’s bound to not be there at some point. I mean, he needs groceries and stuff right? My friend Matilda Harger is his granddaughter. I can ask her when he’s going to the grocery store.”  
Holly said,  
“I don’t know. It seems a little...defective. She may not even tell you, because frankly it’s a weird question.”  
Brenna said,  
“Well frankly, Matilda is extremely weird, so I’m sure she won’t think anything of it. I’ll tell her that myself and a friend will come help her unload groceries for him.”  
Holly said,  
“Ok, if you say so. Talk to her, and then after we get home from school on Friday we’ll walk over there.”  
Brenna said,  
“Got it. Ready to find out what makes Mullins tick?”  
Holly nodded, and said,  
“Absolutely.”

The next day during lunch, Brenna went to talk to Matilda. Matilda Harger brought all new meaning to the word nerd. Her obsessions included, but weren't limited to Lord of the Rings, Chess, playing the trumpet in band, math club, and chess club. She was very academically involved with her school to say the least. Brenna tapped Matilda's shoulder causing Matilda to turn around in annoyance, "What do you want? We're right in the middle of a Book Club meeting!"  
Brenna knitted her eyebrows, "We don't have a book club..."  
Matilda shrugged, "Not yet anyway...what do you want?"  
Brenna said, "Well, as you know, I live across the street from your grandpa and I was wondering if we could help him carry in the groceries one day?"  
Matilda raised her eyebrows, "You're asking for permission to go over to Grampy's house?"  
Brenna nodded, "Kind of. I was wondering what day I need to be over there to help."  
Matilda said, "We leave to go get groceries around 2:30ish on Friday's so be there around 4:30ish, possibly 5 if you want to help unload."  
Brenna smiled, "Thanks Matilda, see ya at 4:30 on Friday. Oh hey, would it be alright If I brought a friend along to help? She lives near him too."  
Matilda squinted, Brenna continued, "If I bring a friend, you can leave after you drop him off. Just get in your mom's car, and leave..."  
Matilda shrugged, "Alright, sounds good. Thanks for the help. See you Friday."  
Brenna turned on her heel and went back to her and Holly's lunch table.  
She gave Holly a thumbs up, signaling that operation Mullins was officially in effect.


End file.
